A question that begs answers

Zakir Khan has generally been very trustworthy but on this occasion his defence of the current dispensation in the board seems to go well beyond the call of duty. And the reason is obvious. The audiences that watched repeated telecast on one of the many satellite channels showing Salim Malik posing in front of the internal main door of the National Cricket Academy, claiming that he had got his dream job after nearly a decade in a wilderness that Justice Qayyum Commission had imposed on him on serious charges of chicanery perhaps would never believe the board's latest version that infamous former skipper had never been appointed in the coveted position of the head of the academy. How could Salim Malik, a pariah not just in Pakistan but in world cricket as well, could get into the National Cricket Academy and stand there and blab about his rebirth as chief coach of the national academy (apparently with no coaching qualifications) without the highest authority in board's concurrence, is something that begs an answer. Sadly, Zakir Khan's platitudes do not provide a wholesome answer to this so obvious question. And in this context, Rashid Latif's reaction does not seem out of place. If the board was acting in good faith, it should apologise to Rashid Latif, reject his resignation and ask him to continue in his present job. It is quite evident that this board, much like the previous one under the rightly much maligned Dr Nasim Ashraf, has quickly established a reputation for shooting itself in the foot. Its latest instance of appointing Salim Malik and then getting into a withdrawal mode quite apparently under the ICC and the world pressure reflects flawed thinking and decision making at the very highest level. The current Board has very quickly earned itself a reputation that is not flattering and it is happening at a time when Pakistan cricket could really ill afford such abrupt and impulsive decision making. In any case, Pakistan cricket needs more Rashid Latifs than Salim Maliks.